Chapter 20 – Jasper #2
We walk to the medical centre in silence.
Neither of us talking, or more like neither of us voicing our concerns.
What do we do if Otis has died? What do we do if Otis has sustained injuries that are going to change his life?
But there is also the voice in my head that says what happens if he has injuries that heal, and he can race again?
What is it going to feel like watching him race again?
As we get to the medical centre we are led into a side room, that just contains a couple chairs and reminds me of a hospital waiting room, which, considering where we are, seems right.
“Lizzie?” I ask, “Has he ever had a crash like this before?”
I know that this is a stupid question to ask, but I need the reassurance that she has gone through this before, and that everything will be okay. I need to steal her strength.
“He has had crashes, but nothing like that,” Lizzie replies. “I wish his dad was here.”
Fuck.
I have been so caught up in my own fear that I never even thought that Lizzie must feel like she’s reliving a nightmare. Otis’s dad died in a car accident, and now she just witnessed her son go upside down and slide across the tarmac.
“Lizzie,” I say, and I reach over and take hold of her hand in mine.
“I can’t lose him, Jasper,” Lizzie says.
I am just about to open my mouth, when there is a knock on the door before it opens, and a guy walks in. He isn’t a member of Montague Racing, he has to belong to the medical staff, and I’m hoping that this is a good sign.
“Mrs Young,” the man says, “Otis was pinned inside the car, but he’s now out of it and on the way to the medical centre.”
“Is he okay?” Lizzie asks.
“He is conscious,” the guy confirms, which doesn’t answer the question of whether he is okay, “But we need to run some tests when he gets here. I’ll come back when I have more news.”
With that, the man turns and walks out of the room, leaving us to the silence again.
“He is conscious,” I say out loud. “That has to be good.”
“So was Otis’s dad. Died later on from his injuries,” Lizzie replies, and I realise that as more time passes, the more she’s thinking about the similarities with Otis’s dad.
“Lizzie, this isn’t the same,” I tell her, trying to give her strength back but not really feeling it myself.
“I know. Otis’s dad didn’t flip upside down,” Lizzie retorts, and for the first time, I hear an edge of bitterness in her voice.
“We just need to wait. The medical team always works fast,” I tell her, taking hold of her hand again.
We fall back into a silence, as we wait for news from the medical team, and I almost wish there was a clock in the room, just so that the ticking sound could break up the silence in the room. Help stop the thoughts that are running through my mind.
“What’s taking so long?” Lizzie demands.
“I think that it’s only been a few minutes,” I tell her, but I know what she means. It feels like hours have passed since we walked into this room.
Letting go of Lizzie’s hand, I’m about to get to my feet, when the door to the room opens and the same man from earlier walks in.
“Mrs Young. If you would like to come with me, we can take you to Otis.”
Lizzie gets to her feet and takes a step towards the guy, but then stops and looks over to me.
“Jasper is to come with me,” Lizzie states.
“Mrs Young, it is just family only,” the man replies, giving me a small smile in apology.
“Jasper is family. Otis would want him to come with me,” Lizzie states, and I can see the man open his mouth to argue again, “Do not argue with me over this. Jasper is coming with me.”
“If you both will follow me,” the man states, deciding that arguing with Lizzie is just not worth it.
The guy leads us to a room at the back of the building, and with each step I take it feels like my heart is going to explode.
It’s the worst feeling in the world, and I find myself standing back, not wanting to go into the room.
Not wanting to face what is on the other side.
So instead I let Lizzie go ahead, letting the door of the room close.
“Otis!” Lizzie exclaims, but it’s not the scream of anguish I thought I was going to hear, and it has me rushing forward and throwing open the door.
There, sitting up in bed, is Otis, and I’m not sure I can believe my eyes. There isn’t a scratch on him. In fact he doesn’t look like he was even in a crash at all.
“Otis!” I exclaim, going over to the bed.
“I’m good. The halo and neck brace protected me,” Otis explains.
“I saw the halo snap off,” I state. “How can you be okay?”
“The safety features worked. Protected me,” Otis says.
“You scared the crap out of me,” Lizzie says. “Don’t ever do that to me again. Do you understand me?”
“Mum, I didn’t mean for this to happen. To be honest I have no idea how the accident happened. Did you see anything on the commentary?”
“I was too concerned watching my son flip upside down to think about looking at the other cars,” Lizzie tells him, and he turns to look at me.
“Oh I was the same, just changed from son to boyfriend,” I tell him.
Lizzie looks over to me and then back to Otis.
“I’m going to give you guys a few minutes together, alone. I’ll go and tell Kimber that you’re okay,” Lizzie says.
“Please Lizzie, I can go,” I tell her. “You have some time with him. I can see him later.”
“Actually, I want to get away from all this medical stuff. It’s bringing about a lot of memories,” Lizzie replies.
“Mum, I promise, I’m okay. Doc said that I don’t need to go to the hospital,” Otis says.
“I know, it’s just…” Lizzie starts.
“Dad,” Otis finishes for her, and Lizzie gives a small nod of the head.
“Don’t you think that you should go to the hospital?” I ask, wondering why he isn’t on the way there already.
“I never lost consciousness in the car. The only impediment I had was when the car was stuck,” Otis explains.
“But still…” I try again.
“Jasper, I’m fine. The G force is nothing I haven’t dealt with before. Please stop fussing.”
“You scared the crap out of me. You know that?” I retort back, “So yeah, I am going to fucking well fuss over you.”
“Jasper, sweetheart,” Lizzie says, and the term of endearment has us both looking in her direction. “Maybe we should cut him some slack. This time.”
Lizzie comes over to Otis and places a kiss on his forehead. “You scare me like that again and I swear, facing a tyre wall will be the least of your worries. Now, I will see you back at the hotel later.”
“See you, Mum,” Otis says.
We both wait until Lizzie has left the room, and I go and pick up a plastic chair that I spotted in the corner and place it beside Otis’s bed. Sitting down, I pick up his hand and place a small kiss on the back of it.
“You really did scare the crap out of me,” I tell him honestly, “I’m not sure how I’m ever going to face you racing again.”
“Crashes happen in F1. You know that. Look at David’s last year. Mine was nothing compared to that,” Otis argues.
“Yes, I know that. But it’s completely different when it’s your boyfriend in the car,” I tell him.
“Boyfriend! What the fuck, Otis?” a voice booms from the doorway.
Looking over to where I heard the voice, I see Vincent standing in the doorway, staring at the pair of us, and when I look back over to Otis he just shrugs his shoulders. This isn’t quite how I imagined Vincent finding out, but there is no way that I’m going to take the words back now.
“I think you two have some explaining to do, now,” Vincent demands as he walks into the room, and I can’t tell if he’s pissed, surprised, or if it’s a mixture of both. Either way, this is going to be an interesting conversation.